Summary: After a turbulent night spent together in the midst of a thunderstorm, Mio finds herself accidentally confessing long with-held feelings to Ritsu. In the midst of embarassing and emotional discoveries on both their parts, the two do what they can to remain friends, and possibly something more... Mio/Ritsu Azusa/Yui Drama/Humor/Romance

"Hey Ritsu...?" Another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky, causing Mio to flinch. Her left hand tightened on the phone as Ritsu snickered on the other line.

"You jumped, didn't you?"

"...Shut up. Just answer my question."

"Fine fine. Just let me grab some things and I'll be there before you know it! Don't let the lightning get you, Mio-chuan!" She hung up before the bassist could reply.

"Stupid Ritsu..." She closed her phone and pulled her blanket over her head as thunder rumbled overhead. After a few minutes passed, Mio decided to go downstairs and unlock the door since, knowing Ritsu, she would be there momentarily. She made sure she was wrapped securely in her blanket before leaving the safety of her bed, stopping occasionally to cover her ears in hopes of shutting out the thunder. Finally reaching the door, she opened it to find Ritsu about to knock, completely soaked through and out of breath.

"Ran... fast... could..." Mio grabbed the drummers sleeve and pulled her inside as thunder boomed over head, causing her to slam the door with a squeak. Ritsu covered her mouth in an attempt to smother her snickering, but Mio still glared as she pulled the blanket around herself.

"Oh come on Mio. Don't give me that look. It was funny." The bassist opted to ignore her as she marched upstairs towards her room, pausing to throw a towel at Ritsu.

"Go take a hot shower so you don't get sick. I'll bring you the clothes you left here last time." She called down to her still snickering friend. Mio stalked into her room and shut the door behind her, leaning against it and sighing. She listened as Ritsu made her way up the stairs and to the shower before moving away from the door to look through her closet for the drummer's clothes. Being home alone always scared Mio, but being home alone during a thunder storm was worse than listening to the lead guitarist and the drummer tell ghost stories. She wouldn't have been able to survive the night with out being super paranoid, so she called Ritsu.

Ritsu always had this ability to be calm during any situation. Unless she had to face Sawako's wrath, which happened more often than not. Mio had always admired her outgoing yet calm personality, wishing she could overcome her shyness. Ten years later and Ritsu hadn't changed a bit. Mio, on the other hand, was a little less shy, but not to the point where she'd want to be the center of attention like Ritsu. She shook her head, bringing herself back to reality and walking down the hall to the bathroom.

"Ritsu, I'm leaving your clothes outside the door."

"Okay~!" Mio placed the drummer's clothes on the floor before moving back to her room. Shutting the door behind herself, she made her way to her bed before losing herself in her thoughts once more. Since Ritsu showed up, Mio's mind was successfully distracted from the storm outside. That is, until another loud thunderclap rumbled throughout the house. Mio cried out and cowered under her blanket once more. Trembling, she shut her eyes tight."I didn't hear it, I didn't feel it, I didn't hear it, I didn't feel it..." she repeated to herself, covering her ears. Then she heard another noise. Not a scary one, but it did sound familiar... She uncovered her ears to listen.

"...Suki no kakuritsu waridasu keisan shiki, Areba ii noni...""It's..." she identified the sound, "singing..." Flowing though the hallway to Mio's room was the sound of an over-exaggerated version of "My Love is a Stapler"."Ritsu's singing in the shower..." Mio realized, sitting up and looking towards her bedroom door. "Since when did she start singing in the shower...?" The bassist giggled a little as the drummer sung the next line way off key.

"Safe to say she isn't singing for us anytime soon." Mio continued to listen to her best friend sing as she let her mind wander, small smile on her face. Ritsu's antics, although sometimes annoying and tiring to deal with, always had the power to make Mio smile even when she didn't want to. In having Ritsu close, Mio felt safer; as though the ball of energy that was the brunette radiated comfort, which Mio gladly drew from. With that energy, she felt she could take the whole world head on."But..." Mio's smile faded as she gripped the blanket in her hands softly, "but there is that again..." Although Ritsu was the best person to go to in any scary situation, it was becoming more and more difficult to call on her friend. The onyx haired girl feared many things and for each of those fears, she had the brunette to tell her everything was okay. However, there was one thing in life she feared most. Even worse than combining all the things she was afraid of.

"I'm afraid of losing her..." She felt as though she needed to remind herself. "But every time I'm near her, it gets harder to hold myself back..." At that very moment, Ritsu walked into the room, her usual comforting smile on her face. A smile that Mio desperately wanted to press her own lips to each and every time she saw it."But I don't want her to think I'm a freak... I don't want her to hate me..." Mio turned her attention away from the object of her affections, "I can't let myself lose her completely...""Mio?" Ritsu asked, sounding concerned. The percussionist sat on the bed next to the blanket clad bassist, "Are you alright?""Yeah, I'm okay." Mio responded automatically. "When had she gotten out of the shower? I didn't even notice her singing stop..." Mio wondered passively. It didn't really matter though; the important thing was that she was there to nullify another terror.

"You sure?" The onyx haired girl took a deep breath before turning to face Ritsu. She smiled and nodded, hoping the girl in front of her would accept that as an answer. The drummer gave her a skeptical look before shrugging it off and diving into her bag to look for something.

"I figured since there was a storm tonight, we could watch movies!"

"Ritsu, we have school tomorrow."

"Then how about just one movie then?" Ritsu sat up, movie in hand with a grin. Mio shot her a glare before opening her mouth to say something, but the brunette cut her off.

"I swear it's not a scary movie. It's that one movie you said looked good. I figured I'd pick it up for you." The bassist's glare softened to a smile as stood up, blanket in tow.

"I guess I'll grab something from the kitchen. You want anything?"

"Water?" Mio nodded and left, leaving Ritsu to mess with the DVD player. A moment later, she returned with two water bottles in hand and sat next to her best friend. The movie Mio had wanted to watch was a romantic comedy she had heard about in passing and had mentioned it to Ritsu one day. She hadn't really expected her to pick it up. The hyper active girl was more into action films than romance, but this one had comedy in it so maybe she wouldn't be completely bored to tears. Mio watched as Ritsu laughed at the characters on screen. The lead female had just found her soul mate by tripping him on accident and falling over herself.

"It doesn't work that way..." Mio idly thought to herself. No, she had never seen it happen in real life, only in books and movies. "Reality just doesn't work that..." Mio blinked twice, a confused look forming on her face. Did she just go blind?

"Uh... Mio..." Ritsu slowly said, knowing what was about to happen. Realization hit the bassist as she shrieked and latched on to the drummer. The power had gone out and the storm was most likely the culprit. Mio clung to Ritsu as she tried to get her breathing under control. Another bolt of lightning shot across the sky, causing her to jump, tightening her grip on Ritsu's sleeves.

"It's alright, Mio." The drummer said as she rubbed her back. "I'm here." She leaned forward and kissed the bassist's forehead before hugging her. She couldn't think of any other way to calm her down and decided to try that. The onyx haired girl froze as her best friend hugged her.

"Did she just...? Am I...? What...?" Mio's mind was like a whirlwind as she attempted to calm her thoughts down. "Does this mean she likes me too...? Should I tell her...?" After an internal argument with herself, she decided that Ritsu wouldn't have done that unless there was something behind it, forgetting that she had in fact done it before. But her emotions whirled endlessly, screwing up any rational thought she had.

"R-Ritsu?"

"Hm? You feeling better Mio?" The drummer pulled away and examined her face as best as she could in the dark. She still looked frightened.

"Um... There's something I think I should tell you..."

"Okay. What?" The drummers' smile was comforting as she patiently waited for Mio to compose herself.

"I um... Well I... Um..." Mio stuttered as Ritsu watched in amusement. The bassist blushed and looked everywhere but her. She took a deep breath before starting again.

"Ritsu, I... Um... The thing is..." She glanced up at the brunettes' face before looking down again. She was starting to feel like this was a bad idea.

"...I like you..." She whispered, unintentionally ending with a squeak. Ritsu stared at her for a moment before snickering.

"Well I hope you'd like me after all these years, Mio. What kind of friendship would this be if you didn't?" Mio's blush darkened as the drummer laughed.

"N-no... Um... L-like like..." She stuttered, mumbling the last few words. Ritsu's laughter died down as she let those words process. Her grin slowly faded as she turned those words over and over in her mind before it finally clicked. Mio had just confessed her feelings. For her of all people. "Shit..."

"Uh Mio..." The bassist looked up, tears already forming in her eyes. The rational side of her mind had finally taken over a moment too late. Her mind started jumping to conclusions when she saw Ritsu's expression. She was going to reject her and end their friendship. And it was all her fault.

"Listen Mio... I like you, but not like that. And don't give me that look; I know what you're thinking. This isn't going to ruin our friendship, okay?" To prove her point, Ritsu pulled her into a hug as she started sobbing. "See Mio? It's okay. You don't have to cry." The drummer held her as her sobs died down and eventually stopped.

"You okay now?" The onyx haired girl nodded as she pushed away from Ritsu, rubbing her eyes. The brunette smiled at her before looking around for the clock, only to remember the power was out.

"Well since the power is out, maybe we should head to bed." Ritsu said as she stood, pulling Mio up with her. As the brunette waited for the bassist to finish changing into her pajamas, she looked out the window. The power was out for what seemed to be whole block and it was still pouring rain.

"Well doesn't look like we'll be getting power anytime soon. You gonna be okay?" Mio nodded as she crawled into her bed before remembering it was dark.

"Y-yes..."

"Okay. I'll be right here." There was a dull thump as Ritsu hit the floor, finding it to be more comfortable than her own bed as she slowly drifted off. Mio curled under her covers as lightning flashed again. She shivered slightly before making up her mind. The bassist peeked over the edge of her bed at Ritsu's still form. The only sounds in her room were the occasion rumble of thunder and their breathing.

"R-Ritsu...?"

"Hm...?"

"Can... Can you sleep up here...? P-please...?" Ritsu grunted in reply and Mio assumed it meant no until she felt the blanket lift up.

"Move over then." She scooted over as the drummer plopped down on the bed, seemingly passing out before her head hit the pillow. Mio laid there and watched as the shadows dance across her walls at each flash of lightning, unable to fall asleep. She rolled over and examined Ritsu's face in what light she had. She was still slightly angry with herself for confessing like that. It's not how she wanted it to go; in fact, she didn't want it to happen at all.

"Not like I can do anything about it now. At least she doesn't hate me..." She thought to herself as she made sure Ritsu was asleep as she inched closer. The bassist rested her forehead against the drummers' shoulder as she curled up.

"I'm sorry Ritsu..." She whispered as she drifted off to sleep.

Minutes ticked by before Ritsu opened her eyes, only to meet darkness. She turned her head to find Mio curled up against her side as she slept.

"So... I guess somehow my best friend developed feelings for me." The drummer sighed. This was quite a predicament, but nothing she couldn't handle.

"The hard part will be making sure things won't get awkward... Dammit Mio, why did it have to be me?" Maybe if she ignored it, things won't get awkward or something. She also didn't want to hurt Mio or anything.

"Arg forget it! I'll think about this tomorrow!" She nodded to herself before shutting her eyes. They've been friends close to forever, so this couldn't make things awkward.

...Right?

A/N: Well now. I've had this idea for a while and at first I only had the first paragraph. It was more based off the memory of a friend of mine who is afraid of lightning storms. She swears the lightning is going to get her. -snickers-Anyways, this here is my attempt at a Mitsu fic, since I am currently shipping them hardcore. And my art skills are non-existent so I can't ship them that way. And guys, Mio is hard to write. I'm more of a Ritsu myself. Anywho, this fic would not have been possible with out the help of my tsundere co-writer, Nobody08. And now, a word from our sponsor.

Nobody 08: I didn't know you were thinking of a picture... I've never drawn any K-ON characters before... Oh, hi there! I am the... "tsundere co-writer", I guess. . Anyway, I hope you find this story enjoyable... but my mission here is to 1.) Help my friend out, and 2.) SPREAD THE MIOxRITSU LOVE! So just be being here I am one step closer to accomplishing my mission. And on that note, I issue my closing statement: I like cookie dough. That is all.

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.